Let me start this off with saying that I love Blythe and I have met some wonderful people through the Blythe community. But there is a however (and I guess there’s a but too) about that, because there is a problem with Blythe being a primarily online hobby and an online community. For those that live in an area and don’t know any other Blythe enthusiasts, it’s a solely online hobby. For my first three years, it was an online only hobby because I wasn’t aware of any local collectors until I went to Portland to meet people from around Vancouver. International travel does seems counter intuitive to meeting people who live a 30 minute drive from my house, but that’s the way it worked out.

The issue with an online community is that nearly all communication is done with text. Nearly all meaning in communication can be conveyed from body language and tone. When you have a primarily online community and all of your conversations are in text, you lose a lot of the meaning when you can’t hear what a person is saying, or see their facial expression, their body language, and hand movements. People who talk with their hands, you know what I mean.

It’s hard to convey sarcasm online, or jokes, without risking offending someone (or actually offending someone). It’s even harder to sometimes see how people could misconstrue what you mean when you know what you mean and way would anyone take it the ‘wrong’ way? It’s even harder when you get offended by something that someone else said and you don’t understand why nobody else is expressing that they feel slighted or wronged.

The internet, while wonderful, has made it both easier and harder to communicate with other people.

Now online video chats… That’s a whole other story. Tone! Facial expression! My waving hands! (I’m not the only hand talker who collects Blythe, am I?)

Cameo has been in this Plastic Fashion dress pretty
much since forever. But isn’t it great on her?

I would be the first of many to admit that I leave my dolls in the same outfit for days, weeks, and months on end. Poor things. But sometimes I just find the ‘right’ outfit for a doll and it just looks great on them and I just don’t want to change them! Plus, finding a new ‘right’ outfit can be time consuming. Luckily, Blythes tend to look great in everything, and I also have the tendency to buy (or craft!) clothing items in a manner that curated a wardrobe that, in general, goes well together.

New outfit time! Cameo is wearing a dress by Puppy52 in
BlytheCon Vancouver 2015 fabric, her kitty tights are by Endangered Sissy.

There are certain dolls in my collection that just don’t get a lot of “play” time. This isn’t because I don’t love them, I do, it’s because there’s just some aspect of them that makes general handling a challenge – this is mostly in reference to the thick, heavy, always-in-my-way hair that some of my dolls have. But sometimes I’ll take one of these troublemakers off my shelf and pop them in a new outfit… Mostly because I’ve realized that they’ve been in the same dress for at least half a year. Or more. I’m such a bad dolly owner sometimes.

How long is too long for an outfit?

You have a doll-related website/shop/blog and BlytheLife has your target audience!

BlytheLife.com is an active doll website with a high readership that primarily consists of women who are Blythe and other doll collectors/hobbyists. By advertising your doll-related site or business with BlytheLife, you can ensure that your ad is being seen by the people that are your potential customers. Every time someone visits BlytheLife, they’ll see your ad on the side!

Did you know? Sponsorship costs are purposely kept low to keep advertising accessible to people in the doll community.

There are three spots currently available for the month of June and all sponsorship funds from now until July 2015 will be donated to BlytheCon Vancouver 2015!

Large – 1 spot available for June! (325×200 pixels)

• $10 – 1 month
• $18 – 2 months
• $26 – 3 months

Small – 2 spots available for June! (160×160 pixels)

• $5 – 1 month
• $9 – 2 months
• $13 – 3 months

If you’d like more information on how you can advertise on BlytheLife, click here.

Who Lives Here is a little feature on BlytheLife to shine the spotlight on the dolls that live with me! Here’s to you, and me, getting to know my dolls a little bit better.

This is Tertiary Jane. She is a mostly stock Simply Peppermint that arrived on November 28th, 2009. She was a belated birthday and early Christmas present from my parents.

At the time, I was taking an organic chemistry course as part of my undergrad and while I didn’t do very well in organic chemistry, I found the topic fascinating. This is why ‘tertiary’ is part of her name, she is in part named for (or after) tertiary carbons because why not? I thought it was cute, and the name just sort of stuck after it was spoken out loud. She is also my third Blythe, so maybe that had something to do with it to – although secondary and quarternary never popped up in my naming schemes.

I’m not very big on doing customizations. T. Jane has had a few eye chip changes (stock blues for Brainworm’s Turquoise, and stock greens for Brainworm’s Apple). She also has sleepy eyes and has some charms. She’s still on her stock body, which she’ll remain on because of reasons. I loved her so much more the moment I put her turquoise chips in, just look at how great they go with her hair!

Her overall general ‘feel’, to me, is a general sense of geekiness. She had to be, what with her name and all! T. Jane is primarily into biology and fibre crafts (knitting and crocheting), much like me. I like bestowing different aspects of my personality onto my dolls when doing photo stories. T. Jane is, in essence, the geek girl that is so much more outward about it to the rest of the world than I am on a regular basis.

I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting Tertiary Jane!

Tertiary Jane wears ericaduh.

The fascinating part of collecting Blythe and the Blythe community as a whole is that people are able to customize their dolls to suit their liking. For the longest time, I primarily had stock dolls or dolls that were nearly completely stock save for a few eye chip changes. And that’s the way I liked it. It wasn’t until Halo came into my life that I had a doll that had a body that was not factory issued.

Halo came to me on a Licca body and that’s how I kept her, Cameo (who was customized by the same customizer) also came on a Licca body. All of my Kenners are on original or original-hybrid bodies (either completely vintage or Kenner torso with Takara pelvis and legs). All of my stock/mostly stock Blythes are on their original bodies. And then there are my customized Blythes. They came to me on Licca bodies, and on Licca bodies they will stay. While I generally do not like the look of Licca bodies (the noodle arms and legs, when bent, leaves a lot to be desired at times), I quite like the look of my customized dolls on Licca bodies.

Are you a Licca body fan or a stock body fan? Or do you prefer something else?

Beyond the Takara and Licca bodies, there are also many other types of bodies out there. Some that I have encountered, others that I have not. Off the top of my head, I am aware that people have put their Blythe’s heads onto Pure Neemo bodies (of all the varieties), Obitsu bodies, and Mimi Bobeck. There are many other types of bodies out there that people have opted to pop their dolls onto for a great variety of reasons.

One of the many reasons that I prefer to keep my dolls on Takara (and Licca) bodies is the fact that I don’t want to have to start a new wardrobe for a different body type (or height). If I had a doll on a Mimi Bobeck body, I would need to have a whole new wardrobe for the doll because nothing I already have would fit. That’s also the issue that I ran into when I got my first Middie, Kitty Brighton, because I honestly had nothing that would fit her and it was frustrating at the time because I was on a self-induced budget cut on dolly spending (and I still am), so I ended up giving myself the challenge of creating the majority (or all) of her wardrobe.

This frustration is also realized in shoes. Different bodies also mean the possibility that my shoe collection might not fit. That’s one of the issues that I ran into when I first got a Blythe on a Licca body. Some of my favourite shoes and boots just would not fit because the Licca fit is just a smidgen wider and longer, so some of my absolute favourite shoes that are dainty and small? The toes can’t even squeeze in because the shoes just weren’t wide enough. For Middies, this meant that I needed to scope out some Kelly-sized shoes, because their feet ended up swimming in a ridiculous manner in the shoes that I already had. Not that I particularly minded ‘needing’ to buy more doll shoes, we all know how much I love those tiny things!

I guess in a way, I’m a bit fickle when it comes to bodies. While I might like the look of some of the alternatives to stock or Licca, I’m penny pinching in a way that makes it unlikely for me to put one of my dolls on a different body because I don’t want to be limited in clothing selection for a doll, or not be able to use some of my favourite shoes on for a doll just because of her body.